That night I unpack my things and set up my cages in my room. I also take the first hot bath I’ve had since I left Dara. Then, when the house seems quiet and Mehtap has returned to her room, I open the window. I can see shadows moving in the darkness. I hear people shouting in the distance, and then a scream. The sound sends a shiver up my spine. Arxa had warned me not to wander outside at night without a guard. It doesn’t take much imagination to think of things that might happen in a place as desperate as this.

I glance once more at the door to make sure it’s latched, and then lean out the window and whistle as Dineas taught me. For a long, nerve-wracking moment, nothing happens. But then wings beat the air and Scrawny alights on my windowsill. A few moments later, Preener comes down and nudges him to the side.

“You made it!” I say breathlessly, and then I feel silly for talking to birds. Preener, true to his name, starts picking at his feathers. It’s a good thing, for both us and them, that animals aren’t vulnerable to rose plague. To the crows, this place is just a particularly dirty village.

I scribble identical notes on two scraps of leather, using a simple cipher that Gatha had given me to learn. Made it safely into compound. I give the crows some crusts of bread I’d saved from dinner, then tie the messages to their legs.

“Find Dineas,” I say. I wonder if he followed me this morning, and hope that he’s safe.

Preener swallows one last breadcrumb and takes off into the darkness. Scrawny spends a few more moments pecking around before following. Between the noises from outside and the events of the day, I don’t expect to fall asleep quickly, but the blankets are soft, and I’m tired, and I eventually drift away.

The crows are nowhere in sight when I wake the next morning. I try not to think of the myriad things that could have gone wrong. Did the birds get lost? Get injured? Get killed before they could find Dineas? My mind provides no dearth of disasters, and I try to convince myself that it’s too early to expect a reply. Perhaps the birds are simply slower messengers than I’d assumed.

I’m surprised to see Arxa in the dining room when I come down. Perhaps he stayed the night, though I don’t see Mehtap around. He greets me and gestures toward the table, where someone has laid out flatbread and stewed beans. The bread is freshly baked and quite good. I finish the first piece quickly and reach for another.

“Were your accommodations satisfactory?” Arxa asks.

I take a moment to swallow before I answer. “Very much so, Commander. I slept soundly.”